Mouse+Keyboard+AC: Brotherhood=No

Playing Assassin's Creed Brotherhood on PC with a mouse and keyboard are nearly impossible.  Maybe it's just me and maybe I'm too used to the controls on the 360.  Ah well, this game will have to wait until I have the wireless gaming receiver for Windows.

Bioshock'd the Hell Outta Me

I know I'm 4 years late on this one.  I picked this up pre-owned several months ago from Gamestop while they were having one of their buy 2 get 1 free sales.  I picked it up based solely on recommendations and reviews.  Going into the game, I knew very little.  Only that the game takes place underwater and that it's a single player based FPS.

Well was I in for quite a surprise when I discovered this game is a horror game!  Now I've read online the debate regarding this fact and let me assure you this game is in fact horror.  It probably is not "survival horror" but it is horror nonetheless.  The game takes advantage of the oppressive underwater environment, eerie soundtrack, and a cast of demented characters.  It then finds new and frightful ways of catching you off guard with the deranged inhabitants jumping out at you and popping up from nowhere when you turn around.  Turning the difficulty down will take a lot of the fear factor out of the game but even then it still has a few moments that will make you jump.

The gameplay combines different weapon types in one hand with spells called plasmids in the other.  The spells and their effects are very cool, each with a different purpose.  There is no does x damage spell.  The spells are either a DoT, or a stun, or a pick up the enemy and throw it across the room.  No generic damage spells make for some very fun kills.  Like freezing the enemy and beating it with a wrench until it breaks into a million pieces.

The game was definitely enjoyable and presented a unique art style.  If nothing else I'd recommend playing this game once just to experience it as it is an enjoyable experience.  Will I be running out to play the second one now?  No.  I might pick it up cheap if I'm bored at some point, but it certainly won't be near the top of the list of games I want to play.  I give this first entry in the Bioshock series an 8.0/10.

   

Deus Ex: Human Revolution Revolutionizes Gaming

Just a couple weeks ago I completed Deus Ex: Human Revolution.  This game is absolutely amazing!  I would list this as one of the best games I've ever played.  I'm not even joking.  The game combines shooter with stealth elements in perfect harmony.  Add on a plot packed with twists and turns and you have yourself a recipe for brilliant.  I would describe Deus Ex: Human Revolution as Resident Evil 4+Mass Effect 2+Fallout 3.

You play the role of Adam Jensen, head of security for a leading biotech manufacturing corporation.  The company specializes in the highly debated and controversial augmentations industry.  Augmentations are artificial upgrades to the human body.  During the opening cutscene there is an attack on the company's headquarters which results in the lab technicians, including Adam's ex, being killed.  Our protagonist himself barely survives and only thanks to the quick action of his employer to heavily augment Jensen.  With these new special powers, you make your way through the game trying to uncover the truth of what happened that day.

From the very beginning you are given a choice of how you want to play.  You can play this game and not kill a single enemy if you so choose.  The only exception is with certain bosses.  It is entirely the player's choice on how much stealth and how much combat to use.  Personally, I stealthed through what I could.  If I was caught or couldn't find an obvious path to stealth to my destination, I wouldn't hesitate to pull out a combat rifle or shotgun and mow down the opposition.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution is hard to classify.  It features first person play with a tactical cover system.  It also allows for exploration and some side questing.  Deus Ex:HR also features a limited inventory system similar to Resident Evil 4.  This game is not a FPS all though it's in the first person.  That is really where the similarities between this and FPS's stop.  I wouldn't call it a RPG either although it certainly has some RPG elements.  Maybe RPG-lite.  Perhaps it's the way it blends these different genres so well that makes it so great.  I would give this game 9.5/10.

Die damnit, die!

***Spoiler Warning: Minor spoiler below.***

At the end of the game you are given a major choice that will influence the ending of your game.  It took me several minutes to make that decision and really made me think about how I play video games.  In Deus Ex: Human Revolution you play a premade character with a clear personality as opposed to a game like Fable where the protagonist has no defined personality and YOU are the character for all intents.  So I found myself thinking what would I do here and what would Adam Jensen do here.  The answers were not the same.  I eventually did all 4 options to see every ending but I still ponder, if a reload isn't possible, how should decisions be made in a video game?  Based on your own detached thoughts and conclusions or in line with the in game character's personality and mindset that he or she would have from being directly in the situation? 

Will Skyrim be Oblivion or Morrowind

I cannot wait for this one!  I know, me and millions of others.  I'm hoping my girlfriend has pre-ordered this already because it is going to sell out on day 1.  Then the stores will get more copies and those will sell out in a single day as well.

If you've played previous Elder Scrolls titles then you already know this game is going to be huge.  If you haven't played before or don't know much about Skyrim, you can read all about this latest installment and all the previous games over at the Unofficial Elder Scroll Pages.  They keep track of all things Elder Scrolls including reviews, guides, interviews, images, etc.  It is an all around excellent fan page.

I first got into the Elder Scrolls series with Morrowind.  I was looking for something epic and also something older that my PC would run at the time.  I certainly had  found what I was looking for.  Later I played Oblivion on Xbox 360.  Between the two, I think Morrowind is definitely the better game.  Sure, there are things Oblivion did better but overall Morrowind was the better experience.

There are definitely some things I did not like about Oblivion that I'm hoping do not make a return in Skyrim.  I really didn't like how the game allowed you to join every guild and complete those quest lines all with one character.  Bethesda can give the game a lot of replayability by making the guilds exclusive.  They did this in Morrowind with the noble Houses.  Those were directly exclusive.  If you joined one house you could not join either of the other two.  Likewise you could not join both religious factions.  The guilds, while you could join all 3, you could not complete the quest lines in all 3 because the quests required you to kill key members of the other guilds.  This really forces you to make choices and if you want to experience all the different quest lines you would have to have 3 separate playthroughs.

The next disappointment I had with Oblivion was quest markers.  Almost all games nowadays have some kind of quest helper whether it be an arrow pointing you which way to go or a bread-crumb trail to follow.  I really can't stand this hand-holding!  I feel the Elder Scrolls world is one which is made to be entirely immersive.  The nice thing about these worlds  Bethesda creates is getting lost trying to find your destination often leads to discovery of other towns, dungeons, and treasures that you may have never explored if you hadn't taken that wrong turn!  By adding these quest guides pointing you in the right direction, they really diminished the fun of accidental discovery.

Clairvoyance in action.

The Skyrim demo shows a new spell however called Clairvoyance.  This spell will give you a trail showing you the way to your next objective.  From what I've seen, I'm really liking this idea.  It is much more immersive than trying to force an arrow.  I'm hoping this spell completely replaces the quest markers from Oblivion.  It just makes sense. It fits in well unlike a map marker or another type of artificial quest helper walking you through the world.

Oblivion had dozens of dungeons.  Nearly 200 different locations if memory serves correctly.  The problem though is they were all the same.  Sure some looked different and they had different types of inhabitants.  A few were even truly unique and had a unique story to what the purpose of the location was once upon a time before the fort, ruin, mine became decrepitated.  But all of these dungeons lacked what I love best in games like these, loot!  Sure there were swords and maces and — Ebony Armor of Dispel!  Maybe it was the random generation of things, I don't know but the loot never seemed worth it.  Things I could craft from the enchanting altars always seemed to be far superior than the random loot found in dungeons.  All the unique items I found were through quests, usually as quest rewards.  After exploring enough dungeons I realized that exploring dungeons was pointless.  Which is sad.  Why design all these places but give the player no reason to explore them.  Todd Howard, Executive Producer at Bethesda Game Studios, has said the world will not scale like Oblivion but more like Fallout 3.  He also said if you go somewhere too hard and survive, you will be rewarded with improved loot.  So hopefully this means less random generated loot and more unique treasures.

I know however Bethesda chooses to handle these items, the game will be fantastic.  Despite the flaws, I loved Morrowind and Oblivion.  The scope of these games draw me in like no others.  I'm looking forward to hearing more about this fifth installment of the Elder Scrolls and I'm sure I'll write more on Skyrim as more and more information is released.

Welcome

Hi welcome to The Gaming Diaries. I wanted to make a place where I can share my thoughts and opinions on video gaming, both current, older titles and those still upcoming. I also wanted a place to discuss whatever it is I'm currently playing and hear other's thoughts as well. I'll primarily be discussing gaming, but I'm likely to touch on other entertainment items and random things as well.

Just a random bit about myself, I'm 32 male. Name's Jeff. I've been playing video games since about 6 years old. I've obviously played through numerous console generations. Currently I own an Xbox 360 and a Dell laptop capable of playing current titles. Most recently I've played Deus Ex: Human Revolution. More on that another time.

As far as my gaming tastes, I prefer single player games especially RPG's. When I was little, my favorite part of video games wad finding new weapons and armor, as well as leveling up. Now we call it character progression. If a game lacks character progression, then it better have a heck of a story to keep me interested, generally speaking. Also I'm not that interested in online play with strangers. I have played MMO's though. Needless to say, FPS's are not my favorite genre. However, there are always exceptions to the rule.

Ok that's it for now. I'm looking forward to messing around with the look of this blog later when I'm home. I wrote this whole post from my phone since I'm so incredibly bored at work today. Until next time.